STAYCATIONS ARE JUST AS SEXY
BY OLIVIA LEGGANS ILLUSTRATION BY KENDALL WIFF
In the weeks leading up to spring break, students buzz with excitement and break into wide smiles when announcing their upcoming trip to Cabo or study-away experience in Ireland. Others glance away, often with defeated stares when admitting they plan to stay home, work, or simply relax for break.
Why do we have shame and embarrassment around staycations? Why is the purest form of a break often the least desirable spring break plan? While the mass migration down to Florida is praised and practiced by many, the pros of a simple and local spring break should also be celebrated.
The most obvious advantage of a staycation is financial. Plane tickets, piña coladas, and Airbnb’s add up. For these kinds of trips, spending hundreds of dollars over the course of a mere seven-day trip is often accepted and necessary.
To be clear, the traditional Ohio-to-Florida pipeline is typically a memorable and exciting initiation into adolescence and is nothing to condemn. However, as a financially independent college student, the financial drain of a yearly trip to the tropics is becoming less and less desirable.
After eight weeks of studying, writing, and cramming for exams, the classic spring break bender can either serve as a needed release or zap your emotional and physical energy. If you fall in the latter category, then there are ways to make a hometown or Ohio-based break just as appealing.
The entire point of spring break is to rest and recharge post-exam season, yet it seems that most do everything except take a break. Remembering that slowing down is essential and not counterproductive is often easy to forget. So, while going out or working ahead in classes are both valuable ways to spend your break, do not overlook the value of pure, unabashed relaxation.
Seven consecutive days without plans or obligations is a rare blessing — and often disappears outside of education systems — so, use this time wisely. Try that one restaurant you always walk past but never have time for. Visit the nearby Metro Parks or find a new hiking trail. Explore unfamiliar areas of nearby towns or cities (Yellow Springs, OH and Over-the-Rhine in Cincinnati are some standouts).
Devoting a couple of days to learning a new skill, like knitting or ceramics, is always rewarding. Reading or movie marathons with friends and family are also great ways to recharge without unnecessary spending. Sometimes relationships and skills slip away during the daily chaos of the school year. Using spring break to reconnect with others or yourself can be just as exciting as leaving Ohio’s borders.
Try new things or nail down a routine. Lounge around or catch up on schoolwork. Make new friends on vacation or catch up with old ones at home. If anything valuable has come from oversaturated self-care culture, it’s that slowing down is just as important as actively making memories.
There is no acceptable or unacceptable way to take a break. Whether you are traveling far from home or staying local, new experiences and rest look different for everyone, so do not diminish or underestimate the power of a staycation throughout the many stages of life
